ARM Linux Update, December 2015

Since our last update, quite a bit has happened in the Linux on ARM and ARM Server ecosystem. First and foremost, the price point for running a Linux ARM machine has reached a new low, only $5 USD! At the end of November, the Raspberry Pi Foundation released a new board known as the Raspberry Pi Zero, with a 1ghz ARM processor and 512mb of RAM running Raspbian (based on Debian Linux), at an incredible $5 price point. So, while it is not the exactly the fastest ARM PC around, it is still an amazing achievement and value for the $5 cost.

Previous low price leader CHIP from NextThingCo ($9 USD) began shipping to the early Kickstarter backers, though the bulk shipments won’t happen until next year. Following close behind at the $15 price point is the Orange Pi PC, running a quad-core Allwinner H3 with support for Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, ArchLinux and more.

Another very interesting option is the new PINE64 board currently being funded on Kickstarter. This project promises to deliver Allwinner A64 processors, with 1gb or 2gb of RAM, also starting at $15. This will be the low cost leader for a 64-bit ARM processor board, coming in significantly cheaper than the $75 Qualcomm Dragonboard (although the Dragonboard is still the leader among *currently* shipping boards). According to the project, they are planning support for Ubuntu and Android.

On the server side, SoftIron has showed off their Overdrive 3000 server, based on the AMD Opteron A1100 processor. The Opteron A1100 is a 64-bit, 8-core, ARM Cortex-A57 design, and the Overdrive 3000 adds 16gb RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and 2 10gig Ethernet ports. The server is optimized for cloud, storage, and web based work, while reducing power consumption and TCO in the datacenter.

Looking back, 2015 saw a ton of progress in the ARM Linux ecosystem, and 2016 is shaping up to be just as exciting!